Governor Thanks Snowplow Drivers

The governor and heads of departments that responded to the snow and cold this week are thanking the employees who did the actual work. “I want to acknowledge these men and women and praise them for a job well done. They risked their lives to save others, and never complained,” State Police Director Hiram Grau said. IDOT Secretary Ann Schneider said snowfall covered 90 percent of the state, and was persistent from New Year’s Eve through Jan. 5, followed by a couple of days of drifting snow, giving her men little rest for a week.

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“These guys have been in the seat, in the truck, taking care of our roads and taking care of our motorists during that entire time period without much rest,” she said. The governor, some IDOT and emergency workers and their bosses gathered for a “thanks, workers” press conference Friday afternoon at an IDOT maintenance garage in Chicago. IDOT had 3,700 workers operating 1,700 trucks, and from Sunday through Tuesday, state police responded to 6,000 incidents. Conservation police on snowmobiles provided 500 public assists, and the National Guard provided mechanics to keep the IDOT trucks running.

Several instances were mentioned specifically:

IDOT cleared the way for an ambulance carrying a woman experiencing a difficult child birth from Wyoming, Ill., in Stark County, to the hospital in Kewanee

IDOT and state police responded to sections of I-55 and I-70 around Effingham where snow drifts four feet high and 200 feet long had trapped dozens of vehicles. They moved out the vehicles on cleared the snow.

Conservation police rescued seven people and two pets trapped by snow drifts via snowmobile on Route 47 north of Mahomet.

A conservation police officer carried a five-gallon can of gasoline on foot one mile in below-zero weather Monday morning to help a family in Clark County whose emergency generator had run

Several motorists were stranded on Route 116 in Livingston County on Sunday night. State police enlisted the help of a citizen with a snowmobile to rescue them.

(Copyright WBGZ / www.AltonDailyNews.com )

The governor and heads of departments that responded to the snow and cold this week are thanking the employees who did the actual work.

“I want to acknowledge these men and women and praise them for a job well done. They risked their lives to save others, and never complained,” State Police Director Hiram Grau said.

IDOT Secretary Ann Schneider said snowfall covered 90 percent of the state, and was persistent from New Year’s Eve through Jan. 5, followed by a couple of days of drifting snow, giving her men little rest for a week. “These guys have been in the seat, in the truck, taking care of our roads and taking care of our motorists during that entire time period without much rest,” she said.

The governor, some IDOT and emergency workers and their bosses gathered for a “thanks, workers” press conference this (Friday) afternoon at an IDOT maintenance garage in Chicago.

IDOT had 3,700 workers operating 1,700 trucks, and from Sunday through Tuesday, state police responded to 6,000 incidents. Conservation police on snowmobiles provided 500 public assists, and the National Guard provided mechanics to keep the IDOT trucks running.

Several instances were mentioned specifically:

n IDOT cleared the way for an ambulance carrying a woman experiencing a difficult child birth from Wyoming, Ill., in Stark County, to the hospital in Kewanee

n IDOT and state police responded to sections of I-55 and I-70 around Effingham where snow drifts four feet high and 200 feet long had trapped dozens of vehicles. They moved out the vehicles on cleared the snow.

n Conservation police rescued seven people and two pets trapped by snow drifts via snowmobile on Route 47 north of Mahomet.

n A conservation police officer carried a five-gallon can of gasoline on foot one mile in below-zero weather Monday morning to help a family in Clark County whose emergency generator had run out of fuel.

n Several motorists were stranded on Route 116 in Livingston County on Sunday night. State police enlisted the help of a citizen with a snowmobile to rescue them.